Mainstream Media is Erasing Middle Eastern Christians | Opinion Alex Galitsky
, Communications Director, Armenian National Committee of America’s Western Region On 3/10/21 at 10:53 AM EST
For the beleaguered indigenous Christians of the Middle East, there was hope the historic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq would bring much needed awareness to their plight.
Despite recognizing the fading presence of the region s Christians, mainstream media has largely been complicit in reinforcing the systematic erasure of these ancient communities.
The Christians of the Muslim world take little solace in being portrayed as outsiders in the region they ve inhabited since before the time of Christianity. Nor are they particularly delighted at their portrayal as a homogenous entity of Iraqi Christians a reductionist mischaracterization of a diverse community that was propounded by Ba athist and later Kurdish authorities to enforce the assimilation and disappearance of t
Detroit-area Chaldean Catholics call pope’s Iraq trip ‘beautiful to see’
Chaldean Catholics celebrate Mass at Mother of God Chaldean Church in Southfield, Mich., in 2019. The Detroit metro area is home to more than 100,000 Chaldean Catholics. (CNS photo/Jonathan Francis via Detroit Catholic)
By Daniel Meloy • Catholic News Service • Posted March 10, 2021
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CNS) Metro Detroit’s Chaldean Catholic community hopes Pope Francis’ recently completed pastoral visit to Iraq strengthens and restores some of the oldest Christian communities in the world.
The pontiff visited the war-torn Middle Eastern country March 5-8, including the capital city, Baghdad, as well as Mosul and the Ninevah Plain region in the country’s north.
Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Mass at St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad March 6, 2021. (CNS/Paul Haring)
The papal trip to Iraq held great promise. Pope Francis would be the first pope, ever, in Iraq. He would be the first pope, ever, to meet with Muslim leaders there. He would be the first pope, ever, to celebrate Mass in the Chaldean Rite.
Yes, on visiting Iraq; yes, on meeting with Muslim leaders there; not quite on Mass in the ancient Chaldean Rite.
Don t get me wrong. The Chaldean Mass the pope celebrated was beautiful, even if some of its parts seemed to occur in the wrong order to Romanized eyes, and the actions and prayers were different. But it was not quite the ancient ritual. More on that later.
In the region where Christianity began, its followers face widespread violence and have experienced a drastic diminution in numbers. The four-day visit of Pope Francis to Iraq, which concludes today